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STEVENSON'S  V 


WITH  TWENTY-NINE  MS.  FACSIMILES 


EDITED  BY 

WILLIAM  P.  TRENT 


Stevenson  rn.de  these  two  pencil  sketches  in  one  of  his  note 
book,  Whether  he  11)1(-n,i,u  tnem  to  ll]llstrate  some  work 
»    h,«.«-«»»P'«w^      |>,    5ibly  some  of  his  readers 

^  hf  «'>'««••  r^        ...        ,  of  his  books  where  the 

illustration*  wil,  fit 


PRINTED  EXCLUSIVE!      FOR  MEMBERS  OF 

THE  BIBLIOI"  SOCI 

BOSTON  MDCDXXI 


WIbt»il  Ibiwq  owl  M9i(t  *b*m  r,o*™ 

„Al9tm     ***** 

'l,liw"|l,";l1"f(M"  I 

inoilKilaoHi 


STEVENSON'S  WORKSHOP 


WITH  TWENTY-NINE  MS.  FACSIMILES 


EDITED  BY 

WILLIAM  P.  TRENT 


PRINTED  EXCLUSIVELY  FOR  MEMBERS  OF 

THE  BIBLIOPHILE  SOCIETY 

BOSTON  MDCDXXI 


Copyright  1921,  by 

The  Bibliophile  Society 

All  rights  reserved 


THE   TORCH    PRESS 
CEDAR    RAPIDS 
IOWA 


•  •  •      "#i 
«  ■    •       •   < 

•  •    ft      i 


•  * 


.     •  *  * 


'       *      *  « 

•  •      • 

•  *  * 
k                •     *     4 

•  »  • 


•  ft      W    *    • 


FOREWORD 

In  selecting  the  pages  of  Stevenson's  man- 
uscript for  reproduction  in  this  volume  the 
purpose  has  been  to  include  only  such  speci- 
mens as  will  have  a  special  interest  for  Stev- 
ensonians,  either  because  the  pages  contain 
more  or  less  fragmentary  material  never  be- 
fore printed,  or  for  the  reason  that  they  show 
the  initial  drafts,  with  interesting  variants, 
of  pieces  that  afterwards  became  a  part  of 
the  author's  published  works. 

As  Professor  Trent  has  pointed  out,  there 
are  a  number  of  unpublished  pieces  that  were 
destined  for  A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses, 
which  would  not  have  discredited  that  vol- 
ume, and  it  is  possible  that  future  editors 
and  students  of  Stevenson's  works  will  wish 
to  avail  themselves  of  valuable  information 
conveyed  through  these  pages,  and  not  other- 
wise accessible  to  those  who  are  not  privi- 

[7] 


leged  to  examine  the  original  manuscripts, 
which  arc  privately  owned. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  rather  dis- 
connected contents  of  this  volume  will  make 
a  strong  appeal  to  the  general  reader,  but 
students  and  lovers  of  Stevenson  will  derive 
both  knowledge  and  enjoyment  from  the  va- 
rious facsimile  pages  showing  the  evolution 
of  the  author's  thoughts. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  extant 
MSS.  of  Stevenson's  earliest  poems  show 
very  few  changes,  such  as  elisions  or  inter- 
lineations,—  possibly  because  he  destroyed 
the  original  drafts, —  while  those  of  many  of 
his  later  poems  are  so  changed  and  inter- 
lined, emended  and  transposed  that  it  is  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  decipher  them.  Al- 
though the  writing  in  some  of  these  photo- 
graphic reproductions  is  so  small  as  to  re- 
quire the  use  of  a  strong  reading  glass,  they 
are  nevertheless  given  in  their  original  size, 
and  are  almost  as  clear  as  the  originals  them- 
selves. 

It  needs  no  argument  to  convince  the  bibli- 
ophile that  in  the  examination  of  an  author's 
chirography  there  is  an  element  of  satisfac- 

[8] 


tion  not  to  be  experienced  in  reading  cold 
type ;  for  as  a  photograph  discloses  the  line- 
aments of  the  face,  so  does  an  author's  hand- 
writing convey  an  unequivocal  reflection  of 
his  mind  and  personality.  These  manuscript 
facsimiles  will  furthermore  furnish  an  inti- 
mate and  comprehensive  exposition  of  the 
methods  employed  by  Stevenson  in  rounding 
out  and  polishing  his  work,  and  will  be  of 
unquestionable  interest  to  all  who  admire  his 
writings.  Mutilated  and  complex  as  some  of 
the  pages  are,  many  readers  will  find  plea- 
sure in  deciphering  them,  in  puzzling  out  un- 
certain and  baffling  words,  and  in  placing 
their  own  estimate  upon  the  literary  quality 
of  various  imprinted  poems  and  fragments 
of  poems  which  were  discarded  either  by 
Stevenson  or  by  early  editors  of  his  works. 
For  a  case  in  point,  let  the  reader  turn  to  the 
verses  entitled  "Windy  Nights,"  at  page  25 
of  this  volume  and  judge  for  himself  whether 
the  poem  did  not  suffer  a  severe  injury  by 
the  omission  of  the  last  four  stanzas.  Only 
the  first  two  were  ever  printed,  but  fortun- 
ately the  others  were  preserved  in  the  note 
book  in  which  they  were  originally  written. 

[9] 


Again,  the  poem  at  pages  56-59,  wherein 
Stevenson  commemorates  his  appearance 
and  discomfort  while  wearing  a  respirator 
u  ith  a  hideous  "snout"  for  the  inhalation  of 
pine  oil,  although  not  to  be  regarded  as  a 
thing  of  idyllic  beauty,  is  as  characteristic 
of  Stevenson  as  anything  he  ever  wrote.  He 
laments  — 

For  ladies '  love  I  once  was  fit, 
But  now  am  rather  out  of  it. 

•         •••••• 

And  nothing  can  befall  —  0  damn ! 
To  make  me  uglier  than  I  am. 

While  it  is  doubtful  if  one  literary  critic  in 
a  hundred  would  recommend  the  piece  for  its 
poetic  qualities,  yet  many  a  Stevenson  enthu- 
siast will  welcome  its  rescue  from  the  dis- 
card. 

Among  other  unused  verses  which  have  a 
peculiarly  personal  interest  —  because  in 
writing  them  Stevenson  almost  certainly 
drew  upon  his  recollections  of  a  healthless 
childhood  — are  those  about  the  lollypops, 
written  for  his  Penny  Whistles,  where  he 
says : — 

[10] 


I  wish  I  had  the  lollypops 

From  all  the  apothecary 's  shops ; 

They  only  give  me  one  a  day 

To  take  the  nasty  taste  away. 

How  can  they  leave  the  sweets  about 

And  give  their  nasty  medicines  out? 

Stevenson  had  great  difficulty  in  deciding 
what  to  call  his  collection  of  poems  for  chil- 
dren (now  known  as  A  Child's  Garden  of 
Verses),  and  although  he  had  still  greater 
difficulty  in  getting  it  published,  it  eventually 
contributed  much  to  his  fame.  In  a  letter  to 
his  old  nurse,  Alison  Cunningham,  dated 
February  1883,  he  says:  "I  have  just  seen 
that  the  book  in  question  must  be  dedicated 
to  Alison  Cunningham,  the  only  person  who 
will  really  understand  it.  .  .  .  This  little 
book,  which  is  all  about  my  childhood,  should 
indeed  go  to  no  other  person  than  you,  who 
did  so  much  to  make  that  childhood  happy. " x 

The  next  month  he  wrote  to  W.  E.  Henley : 
"I  am  going  to  dedicate  'em  to  Cummy;  it 
will  please  her,  and  lighten  my  burthen  of 


1  It  is  doubtful  if  many  readers  realize  that  this  now  world- 
renowned  little  book  is  almost  wholly  autobiographical. 


ingratitude.    A  low  affair  is  the  Muse  busi- 
ness ! 

"O,  I  forgot. —  As  for  the  title,  I  think 
Nursery  Verses  the  best.  Poetry  is  not  the 
strong  point  of  the  text,  and  I  shrink  from 
any  title  that  might  seem  to  claim  that  qua- 
lity; otherwise  we  might  have  Nursery 
Muses,  or  Songs  of  Innocence  (but  that  were 
a  blasphemy),  or  Byrnes  of  Innocence  —  the 
last  not  bad  —  or — an  idea  —  The  Jews' 
Harp,  or  —  now  I  have  it, —  The  Penny 
Whistle.  .  .  .  The  Penny  Whistle  is 
the  name  for  me. 

'  *  Fool !  this  is  all  wrong, —  here  is  the  true 
name : — 

Penny  Whistles 
For  Small  Whistlers 

"The  second  title  is  queried;  it  is  perhaps 
better  as  simply  Penny  Whistles." 

The  book  finally  went  to  print  as  Penny 
Whistles,  but  when  the  proof  sheets  came  out, 
Stevenson  disapproved  of  the  name,  and  for 
various  reasons  the  publication  was  delayed. 
The  next  year,  after  Treasure  Island  had 
brought  him  into  popular  repute  as  a  writer, 
the  projected  Penny  Whistles  volume  came 

[12] 


out  under  the  title  of  A  Child's  Garden  of 
Verses.  It  is  said  that  only  two  copies  of  the 
little  Penny  Whistles  book  are  now  known  to 
be  in  existence. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  much  of 
the  inedited  matter  shown  in  these  facsimiles 
was  written  before  Stevenson  achieved  re- 
nown, and  this  may  have  been  a  determining 
factor  with  the  author,  as  well  as  with  con- 
temporary advisers,  editors  and  publishers, 
in  judging  the  quality  of  the  rejected  pieces. 
Many  of  these  appear  among  the  manu- 
scripts written  for  Penny  Whistles  (after- 
wards A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses),  con- 
cerning which  Stevenson  wrote  as  follows 
to  his  friend  and  literary  counsellor,  Sir  Sid- 
ney Colvin, — "If  you  don't  like  'A  Good 
Boy,'  I  do  ...  I  will  delete  some  of 
those  condemned,  but  not  all. ' ' 

H.  H.  H. 


13] 


STEVENSON'S  WORKSHOP 

By  Professor  William  P.  Trent 

Readers  in  these  days  of  well  nigh  uni- 
versal education  seem  to  be  as  numerous  as 
the  leaves  of  trees,  and,  as  with  leaves,  no 
two  are  exactly  alike.  They  may  be  roughly 
classified,  however,  and  of  the  many  cate- 
gories into  which  they  fall,  two  stand  out, 
even  upon  the  most  superficial  observation. 
Some  readers  are  concerned  mainly  with  the 
incontinent  enjoyment  or  utilization  of  what 
a  book  gives  them,  tearing  the  heart  out  of  it, 
as  certain  famous  public  characters  have 
been  known  to  do.  These  are  very  tigers  in 
their  reading.  Other  readers  suggest  more 
peaceful  animals,  especially  such  as  merely 
browse  and  graze.  Their  enjoyment  may  be 
not  a  whit  less  genuine,  and  their  utilization 
may  often  be  more  beneficial  both  to  them- 
selves and  to  others,  but  they  are  far  less 

[15] 


swift,  flashing,  compulsive  in  their  processes. 
Their  likes  and  dislikes  are  less  marked, 
their  enthusiasms  and  their  aversions  less 
contagious. 

These  two  classes  shade,  of  course,  into 
each  other,  and  the  same  person  may  belong 
to  the  first  class  in  respect  to  one  line  of 
reading,  and  to  the  second  in  respect  to  an- 
other line.  But  it  is  scarcely  a  rash  general- 
ization to  affirm  that  collectors  of  first  edi- 
tions, students  who  enjoy  tracing  the  evolu- 
tion of  a  masterpiece  from  an  imperfect  man- 
uscript draft  to  the  printed  pages  of  the 
writer's  final  authoritative  version,  connois- 
seurs of  illustration  and  binding  —  in  short, 
bibliophiles  of  most  sorts  —  have  no  close  re- 
lationship with  the  tiger  class  of  readers. 
We  may  forbear  to  insist  upon  their  resemb- 
lance to  cattle  chewing  the  cud,  but  we  shall 
run  little  risk  in  averring  that  they  are  more 
domesticated  than  the  springing  and  rending 
denizens  of  the  jungle. 

It  is  clearly  to  the  less  predacious  reader 
that  the  present  volume,  which  is  designed  to 
give  a  glimpse  into  Stevenson's  workshop, 
will  make  its  main  appeal.    No  such  import- 

[16] 


ance  attaches  to  it  as  belongs  to  the  collection 
of  the  facsimiles  of  the  manuscripts  of  Mil- 
ton's early  poems  preserved  at  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  yet  where,  in  the  absence  of 
the  manuscripts  of  Shakespeare's  plays  and 
poems,  can  such  priceless  documents  as  those 
from  Milton's  pen  be  found?  It  is  not  fair 
to  bring  into  comparison  with  what  we  have 
to  offer  such  a  treasure  of  superlative  worth 
as  Milton 's  draft  of '  *  Lycidas. ' '  That  would 
scarcely  be  eclipsed  in  glory  if  some  fortun- 
ate excavator  were  to  recover  for  us  that 
'  i  One  precious  tender-hearted  scroll  of  pure 
Simonides"  for  which  Wordsworth  longed. 
But  it  is  fair  to  ask  who  among  modern 
writers  has  awakened  more  widespread  in- 
terest in  the  phases  of  his  personality  and  the 
evolution  of  his  genius  than  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson.  To  the  better  understanding  of 
those  phases  and  of  that  evolution  the  fac- 
similes here  gathered  and  for  the  first  time 
presented  will  make,  it  is  believed,  a  contri- 
bution of  definite  value,  and  in  this  belief  we 
may  now  begin  to  scrutinize  them  after  two 
points  have  been  briefly  emphasized. 

The  hasty  reader,  whether  or  not  he  be- 

[17] 


long  to  the  tiger  class,  will  do  well  to  remem- 
ber that  in  an  author's  erasures,  hesitations, 
and  afterthoughts,  as  exhibited  in  the  first 
drafts  of  his  writings,  not  only  may  the  curi- 
ous take  legitimate  interest  and  pleasure,  but 
the  thoughtful  may  find  a  point  of  view  from 
which  to  obtain  a  better  insight  into  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  published  work.  If  that 
work  be  of  classic  excellence,  the  possession 
of  the  original  manuscript,  apart  entirely 
from  sentiment  and  financial  value,  may  be 
of  very  great  benefit  both  to  students  and  to 
readers.  Then,  too,  for  the  literary  neophyte 
at  the  outset  of  his  career  there  is  often  profit 
to  be  derived  from  a  close  study  of  the  work 
of  some  great  forerunner  in  its  making.  The 
taste  of  a  portion  of  the  lettered  world,  there- 
fore, for  such  relics  of  great  authors  as  we 
here  present  is  much  more  than  a  mere  indi- 
cation of  sentimentalism ;  it  is  a  taste  born 
of  knowledge  and  experience. 

Of  the  twenty-nine  facsimiles  given  in  this 
volume,  the  greater  part  of  which  are  taken 
from  a  note  book1  used  by  Stevenson  through 

1  It  is  distinguished  by  a  slip  of  paper  marked  "  E.  L.  S. — 
C, "  pasted  on  the  front  cover. 

[18] 


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a  number  of  years,  more  than  a  third  have 
to  do  with  what  is  undoubtedly  the  best 
known  and  most  cherished  part  of  his  poetry, 
A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses.  Facsimile  No. 
1  shows  a  draft  of  the  famous  stanzas  en- 
titled "A  Good  Play,"  which  begin  with  the 
lines  — 

We  built  a  ship  upon  the  stairs, 

All  made  of  the  back-bedroom  chairs, 

and  constitute  the  thirteenth  poem  in  A 
Child's  Garden.  The  variations  between  the 
poem  as  we  read  it  today  and  the  form  it 
took  in  Penny  Whistles  (No.  15),  the  ex- 
tremely scare  forerunner  of  A  Child's  Gar- 
den, are  but  trifling,  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  statement  made  in  the  superb  catalogue 
of  the  Harry  Elkins  Widener  Collection  of 
Stevensoniana ;  but  here  we  have  several  in- 
teresting particulars  brought  to  light. 

We  loaded  it  with  sofa  pillows, 

as  line  three  originally  stood,  was  happily 
changed,  perhaps  speedily,  to  the  present 
version  — 

And  filled  it  full  of  sofa  pillows. 

[19] 


What  is  now  the  third  and  last  division  of 
the  short  poem  was  at  first  made  the  second 
stanza  of  three,  all  of  which,  as  is  not  the 
case  at  present,  were  intended  to  consist  of 
four  lines  each.  The  last  of  the  original 
stanzas  together  with  the  five  lines  written  to 
the  side  of  the  original  draft  of  the  poem, 
finish  out,  with  some  eliminations,  the  second 
division  of  the  verses  as  we  now  have  them, 
and  one  cannot  but  conclude  that  Stevenson 
became  eventually  as  skilful  an  artificer  of 
his  poem  as  the  two  children  were  of  their 
ship.  We  are  perhaps  sorry  to  have  the 
young  mariners  go  without  their  "plate  of 
breakfast  crumbs,"  to  say  nothing  of  "half 
an  ounce  of  sugar  plums,"  but  "papa"  must 
have  been  glad  that  they  did  not  take  his  hat. 

The  other  verses  in  facsimile  No.  1  are  not 
specially  important,  but  some  readers  may 
wish  that  Stevenson  had  finished  the  line 
dealing  with  Will,  the  would-be  soldier. 
Doubtless  "keep"  would  have  been  used  as 
a  rhyme  for  "sweep,"  but  whether  "step," 
or  "line,"  or  something  else  would  have  been 
preserved  in  orderly  fashion,  must  remain  a 
pleasant  mystery. — 

[20] 


ffM-    K~ 

>     t.    ■    «,    in— K     y^  «/~-«.    "*~t»-eX-*w>     h^y     \Ji*A.    jL-v 


\  * 


> 


i-  *.  te—.  ev  y  2©C  !SJbt~t*.-  rw-v^ — a^^L-lJU^QA^i-. 


:   *  r  - 1       r  '        V -     T  .  '■  «  ■  I       ' 


^ 


' ■ '      1 


W-    fc/v  Cwyr^y^  r  ( 


^      ■  i    •  ^ 


\ —  -.1.-1.. 


/ 


—    r 


Jim  would  be  a  sailor,  and  Tom  would  be  a 

sweep, 
Rose  would  be  a  baker,  to  eat  the  sugar  bread ; 
But  Will  would  be  a  soldier,  with  the  [men  in 

line  to  keep], 
And  he  himself  a-marching  so  finely  at  the  head. 

Facsimile  No.  2  gives  us  drafts  of  two 
poems  that  appear  in  A  Child's  Garden  (No. 
7,  "Pirate  Story/'  which  is  Penny  Whistles 
No.  8;  and  No.  8,  "Foreign  Lands,"  which 
is  Penny  Whistles  No.  9).  The  destinations 
of  the  young  adventurers  of  the  first  poem 
read  in  our  draft — 

Shall  it  be  to  India  a-steering  of  the  boat, 
To  Providence  or  Malaga,  or  off  to  Malabar  ? 

The  second  line,  except  for  punctuation, 
reads  in  Penny  Whistles  as  it  does  here ;  but 
in  the  first  edition  of  A  Child's  Garden,  Stev- 
enson—  whether  to  get  rid  of  the  repetition 
"Mala,"  or  for  some  other  reason  —  made 
the  line  read  — 

To  Providence,  or  Babylon,  or  off  to  Malabar. 

Between  writing  the  present  draft  and 
printing  in  Penny  Whistles  and  later  A 

[21] 


Child's  Garden,  he  doubtless  discovered  for 
himself,  or  else  was  told  by  some  friend,  that 
Malabar  is  to  be  found  on  the  map  of  India, 
and  he  proceeded  to  substitute  "Africa"  for 
"India,"  to  the  distinct  advantage  of  his 
poem.  The  close  reader  of  the  facsimile  will 
observe  other  variations,  and  will  probably 
conclude  that  Stevenson's  changes  were 
clearly  for  the  better. 

This  conclusion  appears  to  hold  for  the 
alterations  to  be  found  in  ' '  Foreign  Lands, ' ' 
but  it  is  permissible  to  wonder  whether  the 
lines  in  Penny  Whistles  and  A  Child's  Gar- 
den which  run  — 

To  where  the  grown-up  river  slips 
Into  the  sea  among  the  ships, 

charming  though  they  be,  are  not  somewhat 
more  sophisticated  and  less  in  character  than 
those  Stevenson  wrote  in  the  present  draft, — 

Till  I  at  last  should  catch  a  glance 
Of  vessels  sailing  off  to  France. 

A  similar  query  applies,  although  perhaps 
less  pertinently,  to  the  lines  of  the  Child's 
Garden  version  running  — 

[22] 


I  saw  the  dimpling  river  pass 
And  be  the  sky's  blue  looking-glass, 

which  here  and  in  Penny  Whistles  appear 

as  — 

I  saw  the  river  dimple  by, 
Holding  its  face  up  to  the  sky. 

On  turning,  however,  to  facsimile  No.  3, 
we  perceive  that  Stevenson  did  not  finish 
" Foreign  Lands"  on  Number  2.  He  repeated 
the  first  two  lines  of  stanza  four,  as  we  have 
the  poem,  then  wrote  two  other  lines  which 
he  forgot  to  cross  out,  then  twro  lines  which 
he  did  cross  out,  then  went  along  for  eight 
lines,  the  last  four  constituting,  with  some 
variations,  the  fifth  and  last  stanza  of  the 
poem  as  it  now  stands;  the  four  preceding 
forming  a  charming  passage,  the  first  line  of 
which  may  be,  as  we  have  seen,  sophisticated, 
but  can  scarcely  be  held  to  lessen  the  beauty 
of  the  whole. — 

To  where  the  grown-up  river  slips 
Along  between  the  anchored  ships, 
And  lastly,  between  harbor  walls, 
Into  the  bright  Atlantic  falls. 

[23] 


If  these  four  lines  do  uot  bear  strong 
testimony  to  Stevenson's  mastery  of  ca- 
dence, the  present  editor's  ear  is  greatly  at 
fault. 

The  remaining  portions  of  facsimile  No.  3 
throw  light  on  the  methods  Stevenson  used 
for  securing  rhymes,  and  exhibit  a  frag- 
mentary draft  of  a  sprightly  play  poem, 
which,  had  he  persevered,  might  have  been 
fashioned  into  something  good. — 

Bring  out  the  dolls,  bring  out  the  blocks, 
Bring  out  the  horse  and  dray, 

And  let  us  in  our  oldest  frocks, 
At  once  proceed  to  play. 

More  important,  however,  is  the  fact  that 
it  gives  us,  in  connection  with  facsimile  No. 
4,  an  interesting  draft  of  "Windy  Nights" 
(No.  10  of  Penny  Whistles  and  No.  9  of  A 
Child's  Garden),  which  exhibits  significant 
variations  from  the  printed  text,  and  fur- 
nishes no  less  than  four  entirely  new  stanzas. 
It  is  difficult  to  understand  why  these  im- 
portant stanzas  were  omitted,  as  the  poem 
may  be  regarded  by  most  readers  as  incom- 
plete without  them.     From  the  two  sheets 

[24] 


b 

eatly  at 

le  No.  3 

liods  St<  m  used 

and  exhibit  a  frag- 

prightly  p]  m, 

aad  h  ed,  might  have  been 

^hion  lething  good. — 

Bring  01  dolls,  bring  out  the  blocks, 

Bring  out  the  horse  and  dra 
A)  n  our  oldest  frocks, 

At  07  occed  to  play. 

More  important,  however,  is  the  fact  that 

gives  us,  in  tion  with  facsimile  No. 

n  interesting  draft  of  "Windy  Nights" 

Whistles  and  No.  9  of  A 
) ,  which  exhibits  significant 
from  the  printed  text,  and  fur- 
entirely  new  stanzas. 
'  to  understand  why  these  kn- 
itted, as  the  poem 
ided  m- 

From  the  beets 


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we  are  now  able  to  give  the  first  printed 
edition  of  the  whole  original  poem  as  fol- 
lows : — 

WINDY  NIGHTS 

Whenever  the  moon  and  stars  are  set, 

Whenever  the  wind  is  high, 
All  night  long  in  dark  and  wet 

A  man  goes  riding  by. 
Late  in  the  night  when  the  fires  are  out, 
Why  does  he  gallop  and  gallop  about? 

Whenever  the  trees  are  crying  aloud, 

And  ships  are  sinking  at  sea, 
By,  on  the  highway,  low  and  loud, 

By  at  the  gallop  goes  he. 
By  at  the  gallop  he  goes,  and  then 
By  he  comes  back  at  the  gallop  again. 

Where  is  he  riding  at  night  so  late, 

With  nobody  riding  besides? 
Hark,  as  the  cinders  fall  in  the  grate, 

To  the  ring  of  his  spurs  as  he  rides. 

Where  is  he  riding  at  night  so  late, — 

Why  does  he  ride  so  fast? 
Why  does  he  come  when  the  wind  is  great 

And  gallop  before  the  blast? 

[25] 


Galloping  ever  and  all  night  long, 

Galloping  still  when  the  wind  is  strong, — 

Where  and  where  and  where  can  he  go? 
Who  and  who  can  he  be? 

Maybe  St.  Nicholas,  to  and  fro, 

To  buy  my  presents  for  me  — 
Hiding  and  riding  as  hard  as  he  can, 

Bringing  a  drum  to  a  good  little  man. 

To  the  side  of  the  final  verses  of  "Foreign 
Lands"  on  facsimile  No.  3  and  immediately 
above  the  opening  stanzas  of  "Windy 
Nights,"  Stevenson  wrote  what  appear  to  be 
the  titles  of  eight  contemplated  poems,  two 
of  which  titles  he  eliminated.  Of  the  re- 
maining six  "The  Lamplighter"  seems  to 
have  come  into  existence  as  No.  40  of  Pen- 
ny Whistles  and  No.  30  of  A  Child's  Gar- 
den. "Wind  at  Night"  is  doubtless  but  an- 
other title  for  "Windy  Nights,"  with  regard 
to  which  one  may  remark  that  Stevenson 
seems  always  to  have  been  singularly  sensi- 
tive to  the  effects  produced  by  the  wind,  and 
that  galloping  at  night-time  exercised  a  fas- 
cinating influence  on  his  imagination.  An- 
other title,  "Sick  Child,"1  probably  became 

1  There  is  a  poem  in  the  first  book  of  Underwoods  (No.  26) 

[26] 


later  "The  Land  of  Counterpane ' '  (No.  18  of 
Penny  Whistles  and  No.  16  of  A  Child's 
Garden) . 

Facsimile  No.  4  shows  at  the  side  of  the 
concluding  stanzas  of  "Windy  Nights"  two 
quatrains  which  appeared  later  in  Penny 
Whistles  (No.  11),  but  of  which  only  the 
first  and  third  lines  seem  to  have  been  used, 
with  slight  changes,  in  A  Child's  Garden  to 
usher  in  the  tenth  poem,  the  verses  entitled 
"Travel."  Since  the  present  draft  varies 
from  the  Penny  Whistles  version  as  repro- 
duced in  the  Widener  Catalogue,  it  may  be 
well  to  print  the  stanzas  as  they  appear  in 
the  f  acshnile : — 

0  I  should  like  to  rise  and  go 

And  wander  on  my  feet, 
Where  all  the  golden  apples  grow 

And  things  are  nice  to  eat. 

All  down  beside  the  water  brooks, 

And  past  the  harbour  bar, 
And  o'er  the  hills,  in  story  books, 

Where  bears  and  lions  are. 

entitled  ' <  The  Sick  Child. ' '—  See  also  the  Bibliophile  edition  of 
1916,  II,  146-148  —  but  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  Stevenson 
had  this  in  mind  when  he  was  jotting  down  these  titles. 

[27] 


Probably  Stevenson  intended  to  make  a 
separate  poem  of  the  couplets  written  imme- 
diately below  these  quatrains,  but  he  appears 
to  have  left  them  unutilized.  The  following 
lines  are  quotable : — 

All  the  trees  that  stood  around 

Dropped  crumpled  leaves  upon  the  ground ; 

All  the  winds,  so  soft  and  sweet, 

Kept  chasing  leaves  away  to  eat  ;* 

And  all  the  squirrels  up  the  trees 

Were  eating  beechnuts,  if  you  please. 

Finally,  facsimile  No.  4  gives  us  a  draft  of 
"Singing"  (No.  12  of  Penny  Whistles  and 
No.  11  of  A  Child's  Garden).  Perhaps  the 
variations,  although  slight,  justify  the  print- 
ing of  the  two  stanzas : — 

Of  speckled  eggs  the  birdie  sings 

And  nests  among  the  trees ; 
The  sailors  sing  of  ropes  and  things 

And  ships  upon  the  seas. 
The  children  sing  in  far  Japan, 

The  children  sing  in  Spain, 
The  organ  with  the  organ  man 

Is  singing  in  the  rain. 

1  The  reader  will  observe  that  occasionally  a  little  punctua- 
tion has  been  introduced. 

[28] 


^-y   db~t*s<.  ^#J-^#\-  ^Vv^^oA    /•-sy   A/W.  C^>?t^_ 


,  (^^  ew-  &*.<-..  A-^te.  , 


v-JE^&t 


dAn^JiA  **-~£   ^K--t(<v/w,i 


^»  I, 


f-> 


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v«A^  *£v*-t   wcvi  t^-v   (/M   A-^   --■ 


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(^  ^U-  ^  "    .    (^  c^ 

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■.                 -  -  ■ 

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)     0.  \  «.    S    «~-i      ■        I   > 

{J             i    ftX«j|   ! 

V  Jj   *r  •**■  "1   ' 

u  ....   h    A— ^    tc 

w 


The  fifth  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of 
all  the  facsimiles.  Optimists  will  undoubt- 
edly prefer  "Happy  Thought"  (No.  30  of 
Penny  Whistles  and  No.  24  of  A  Child's 
Garden)  which  runs  — 

The  world  is  so  full  of  a  number  of  things, 
I'm  sure  we  should  all  be  as  happy  as  kings 

to  the  couplet  at  the  head  of  the  facsimile 
page  — 

The  world  is  so  great  and  I  am  so  small, 
I  do  not  like  it  at  all,  at  all  — 

but  psychologists  and  unsentimental  readers 
may  wonder  whether  the  latter  expression  of 
child  self -consciousness  is  not  more  realistic 
than  the  exuberance  displayed  in  the  more 
widely  known  verses.1 

The  quatrain  which  follows  in  the  manu- 
script needs  no  comment,  and  this  is  measur- 

i  Readers  of  Sir  Graham  Balfour 's  biography  of  Stevenson 
may  recall  that  the  biographer  quotes  this  earlier  couplet  in  a 
footnote  (London,  1901,  I,  34),  and  connects  it  with  "the  sense 
of  disproportion"  which  sometimes  haunted  Stevenson  in  his 
youth.  The  later  version,  "Happy  Thought,"  is  for  Sir 
Graham  Balfour  ' '  brave  and  characteristic ; ' '  for  Mr.  Gilbert 
K.  Chesterton  it  seems  to  be  something  much  more  wonderful. 
(See,  J.  A.  Hammerton's  "Stevensoniana,"  Edinburgh,  1910, 
p.  150.) 

[29] 


ably  true  of  the  draft  of  "At  the  Sea-Side" 
(No.  3  of  both  Penny  Whistles  and  A  Child's 
Garden).  In  the  seaside  verses,  as  usually 
printed,  a  period  is  placed  after  "cup"  in  the 
fourth  line.  Since  Stevenson  used  no  punct- 
uation here,  some  readers  may  feel  that  the 
lines  would  be  improved  by  substituting  a 
semicolon,  or  possibly  a  comma. 

The  next  quatrain,  though  negligible,  may 
serve  to  remind  us  of  the  opening  line  of 
"My  Treasures"  (No.  5  of  "The  Child 
Alone  ") .  The  version  of  the  famous  and  ad- 
mirable "Bed  in  Summer"  (No.  1  of  both 
Penny  Whistles  and  A  Child's  Garden) 
shows,  not  only  that  Stevenson  first  wrote 
"older"  for  the  better  "grown-up,"  but  also 
that  he  added  in  the  present  draft  what  seem 
to  be  two  entire  new  stanzas  and  the  begin- 
ning of  a  third. — 

In  winter  I  get  up  at  night 
And  dress  by  yellow  candlelight ; 
In  summer,  quite  the  other  way, 
I  have  to  go  to  bed  by  day. 

I  have  to  go  to  bed  and  see 

The  birds  still  hopping  on  the  tree, 

[30] 


Or  hear  the  older  people's  feet 
Still  going  past  me  in  the  street. 

And  does  it  not  seem  hard  to  you, 
When  all  the  sky  is  clear  and  blue, 
And  I  should  like  so  much  to  play, 
To  have  to  go  to  bed  by  day  1 

When  big  and  strong  and  wise  I  grow 
I  forth  to  foreign  lands  will  go ; 
And  pleasant  places  I  shall  see, 
With  berries  growing  on  the  tree. 

Lions  and  tigers,  dogs  and  trees, 
And  bullpups  march  along  with  these ; 
I  shut  my  eyes  for  all  are  shy, 
Still  in  my  bed  I  seem  to  lie ; 

Yet  as  the  crowd 

That  the  poet  was  well  advised  in  retaining 
only  the  three  published  stanzas  of  the  verses 
is  a  judgment  which  will  be  disputed  by  but 
few  readers,  although  most  Stevensonians 
will  doubtless  welcome  the  opportunity  to 
read  the  other  two. 

It  is  not  certain  whether  in  the  eighteenth 
line  Stevenson  intended  to  write  " bullpups" 
or  "bullfrogs,"  but  since  the  bullpup  would 
be  likely  to  have  an  advantage  over  his  am- 

[3i] 


phibious  neighbor  iu  keeping  step  with  the 
procession,  we  have  given  him  the  prefer- 
ence. The  initial  letter  of  the  second  syllable 
certainly  resembles  Stevenson's  "f,"  but  on 
the  other  hand,  the  final  letters  seem  unques- 
tionably to  be  his  characteristic  "ps."  It  is 
barely  possible  that  the  last  letter  is  "p"  in- 
stead of  "ps,"  and  that  the  youthful  versifier 
may  have  had  a  special  "pup"  in  mind  whom 
lie  excluded  from  the  category  of  common 
"dogs." 

A  draft  of  the  poem,  "The  Land  of  Coun- 
terpane," which  appears  on  facsimile  No.  6, 
exhibits  interesting  variations  from  the 
printed  text.  The  tray  upon  the  knees  seems 
finally  to  have  been  dispensed  with,  as  well 
as  the  idea  of  making  the  "country  all  com- 
plete." In  addition  we  seem  to  be  justified 
in  inferring  that  the  excellent  concluding 
stanza  of  the  printed  versions,  beginning  "I 
was  the  giant  great  and  still, ' '  was  an  after- 
thought. The  original  version  in  our  draft 
runs  as  follows : — 

When  I  was  ill  and  lay  in  bed 
I  had  two  pillows  at  my  head ; 

[32] 


V      /- 


CM 


'-   V    )^,      J^       . 


MaJ  i   CA*uj  ?  <L>«1    »U.^-i    (  ^ti~>*  ,  V-V<-    VVW       \V-vvs)    (  <V\^\j 


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*~ 


And  all  my  toys  beside  me  lay 
[Upon  my  knees  and  in  a  tray] 
To  keep  me  happy  all  the  day. 
Sometimes  for  an  hour  or  so 
I  watched  my  leaden  soldiers  go, 
[/  placed  my  soldiers  row  by  row 
And  then  1  sat  and  watched] * 
With  different  uniforms  and  drills, 
Among  the  bedclothes,  through  the  hills, 
And  sometimes  sent  my  ships  in  fleets 
All  up  and  down  across  the  sheets ; 
Or  brought  my  trees  and  houses  out 
And  set  them  here  and  there  about 
To  make  a  country  all  complete. 

This  poem,  we  thought,  was  possibly  antic- 
ipated on  facsimile  No.  3  by  the  jotted  title 
' '  Sick  Child. ' '  Perhaps  another  of  those  j  ot- 
ted  titles,  "Apothecary's  bottles,'1  was  a 
forecast  of  the  unpublished  quatrain  found 
at  one  side  of  the  top  of  facsimile  No.  6 : — 

In  all  the  tidy  chemists'  shops 
They  have  things  full  of  lollypops. 

i  This  incomplete,  but  not  stricken  out,  couplet  which  would 
doubtless  have  ended  with  ' '  them  go, ' '  was  written,  as  the  fac- 
simile will  show,  to  the  side  and  partly  over  the  line  "Some- 
times for  an  hour  or  so. ' ' 

[  33  ] 


How  can  they  leave  the  sweets  about 
And  give  their1  nasty  medicines  out? 

When  it  is  recalled  that  much  of  Steven- 
son's childhood  was  spent  in  illness,  it  will 
not  seem  strange  that  "chemist's  shops," 
' '  nasty  medicines ' '  and  the i '  lollypops ' '  made 
an  abiding  impression  upon  his  mind.  In 
another  place  (on  facsimile  No.  17)  the 
thought  of  the  foregoing  lines  is  expressed  in 
another  form : — 

I  wish  I  had  the  lollypops 
From  all  the  apothecary's  shops; 
They  only  give  me  one  a  day 
To  take  the  nasty  taste  away. 

Neither  of  these  versions  would  have  dis- 
graced A  Child's  Garden,  but  Stevenson  was 
perhaps  right  in  discarding  them.  Whether, 
if  he  had  continued  the  poem  begun  with  a 
reference  to  the  candle  light  and  the  organ 
man,  we  should  have  had  another  child's  clas- 
sic must  remain  in  doubt ;  but  it  is  plain  that 

i  As  the  reader  will  perceive  from  the  facsimile,  Stevenson 
was  not  clear  as  to  the  propriety  of  inserting  this  word.  It 
makes  the  line  too  long,  therefore  we  have  omitted  the  second 
word  "then,"  as  he  would  perhaps  have  done  in  retaining  the 
word  he  inserted  between  the  lines. 

[34] 


ut 

even- 
in  il  it  will 
it  "chei  >ps," 
td  the  *                   '  made 

it'.     In 

.  17)    the 

i  pressed  in 

ollypo 

ue  a  d 
the  nasty  taste  awa 

ler  of  these  vers  would  have  dis- 

1  Child's  Garden,  but  Stevenson  was 

:  in  discarding  them.   Whether, 

ued  the  poem  begun  with  a 

indie  light  and  the  organ 

e  had  another  child's  clas- 

in  doubt ;  but  it  is  plain  that 

>  ive  from  the  facsimile,  Stevenson  , 
propriety  of  inserting  this  word.     It 
nerefore  we  have  omitted  the  second 
as  he  would  perhaps  have  done  in  retaining  the 

[34] 


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he  thought  enough  of  the  stanzas  that  finish 
out  the  sheet  to  preserve  them,  with  some 
changes,  for  ''The  Child  Alone,"  where  they 
are  entitled  "My  Ship  and  I." 

Facsimile  No.  7  contains,  besides  the  play 
dedication  dated  Davos,  1881,  four  drafts  of 
poems  later  included  in  Penny  Whistles  and 
A  Child's  Garden,  a  quatrain  included  in 
Penny  Whistles,  but  not  in  A  Child's  Gar- 
den, and  another  quatrain,  apparently  un- 
published. 

The  draft  of  "  A  Thought"  (No.  2  of  both 
Penny  Whistles  and  A  Child's  Garden)  cor- 
responds with  the  version  given  in  the  former 
as  is  indicated  by  the  facsimile  to  be  found  in 
the  Widener  Catalogue.  That  authority  (p. 
87)  states  that  the  versions  of  Penny  Whis- 
tles and  of  the  first  edition  of  A  Child's  Gar- 
den agree.  We  are  therefore  left  wondering 
why  some  editions  of  Stevenson's  poems 
leave  out  the  "so"  of  the  first  line  — 

It  is  so  very  nice  to  think. 

The  draft  of  "Young  Night  Thought" 
(No.  4  of  both  Penny  Whistles  and  A  Child's 
Garden)   omits  the  closing  couplet  of  the 

[35] 


third  stanza,  if  we  may  judge  from  this 
single  sheet  of  facsimiles.  This  couplet  runs 
in  Penny  Whistles — 

Though  I  'm  so  sleepy,  yet  I  find 
That  I  can  never  stay  behind. 

In  A  Child's  Garden  it  is  bettered  to  — 

For  every  kind  of  beast  and  man 
Is  marching  in  that  caravan. 

The  other  features  of  the  present  draft 
distinguishing  it  from  the  printed  versions 
may  be  easily  determined,  and  seem  to  need 
no  connnent. — 

All  night  long,  and  every  night, 
As  soon  as  mama  puts  out  the  light, 
I  see  the  people  marching  by 
As  plain  as  day  before  my  eye. 

Armies  and  emperors  and  kings 

All  carrying  different  kinds  of  things, 

And  marching  in  so  strange  a  way 

I  never  saw  the  like  by  day. 

So  fine  a  show  was  never  seen 

At  the  great  circus  on  the  green. 

At  first  they  move  a  little  slow, 
But  still  the  faster  on  they  go, 

[36] 


And  still  beside  them  close  I  keep 
Until  we  reach  the  town  of  sleep.1 

The  draft  of  "The  Whole  Duty  of  Chil- 
dren" (No.  5  of  both  Penny  Whistles  and  A 
Child's  Garden)  shows  that  Stevenson  at 
first  began  with  the  line  — 

A  child  should  do  his  best  to  grow — 

and  then  improved  it  to  the  present  form  — 

A  child  should  always  say  what's  true. 

The  punctuation  of  our  manuscript  draft 
that  follows  may  seem  better  than  that  of  the 
printed  version: — 

A  child  should  always  say  what 's  true 
And  speak  when  he  is  spoken  to ; 
And  behave  mannerly  at  table, 
At  least  as  far  as  he  is  able. 

The  draft  of  "Rain"   (No.  7  of  Penny 

1  It  is  needless  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  some  punctu- 
ation has  been  introduced,  but  it  is  not  needless  to  say  that  the 
statement  that  Stevenson  omitted  the  closing  couplet  of  the 
third  stanza  is  an  assumption.  He  may  not  have  intended  at 
first  to  divide  his  couplets  into  stanzas,  although  the  presence 
of  a  short  line  between  the  first  and  second  stanzas  and  at  the 
top  of  the  final  stanza,  as  these  are  printed,  seems  to  indicate 
that  from  the  beginning  he  had  a  stanzaic  division  in  mind. 

[37] 


**J<3&Cj 


Whistles  and  No.  6  of  A  Child's  Garden) 
shows  that  Stevenson  first  wrote  "tower" 
for  "field,"  and  that  he  originally  intended 
"the  grassy  ground"  to  rhyme  with  "a- 
round."  The  reader  will  note  other  varia- 
tions, and  may  determine  the  punctuation 
for  himself : — 

The  rain  is  raining  all  around, 

It  falls  on  field  and  tree ; 
It  rains  upon  the  umbrellas  here, 

And  out  on  ships  at  sea. 

Some  may  feel  that  this  draft,  although  it 
is  less  smooth  than  the  printed  text,  does  not 
really  suffer  on  that  account.  Others  may 
feel  that  the  point  raised  is  as  undetermin- 
able as  it  is  unimportant.  Not  so  unimpor- 
tant is  the  question  whether  Stevenson,  des- 
pite the  short  line  drawn  between  the  stan- 
zas, meant  at  first  to  give  "Rain"  two  stan- 
zas, the  second  running  as  follows : — 

Now  all  the  roads  are  full  of  mire, 

Both  in  and  out  of  town, 
And  children  sit  beside  the  fire 

And  hear  it  patter  down. 

The  fact  that  the  first  and  third  lines 

[33] 


rhyme  just  as  the  same  lines  were  originally 
intended  to  do  in  the  first  stanza,  and  the 
farther  fact  that  the  short  line,  or  dash, 
might  have  been  drawn  between  the  stanzas 
after  Stevenson  determined  to  alter  and  keep 
only  the  first  of  the  two  seem  to  give  ground 
for  the  assumption  that  the  poem  at  the  be- 
ginning consisted  of  two  stanzas.  If  this  be 
so,  one  is  led  to  inquire  why  the  second  was 
omitted  from  the  printed  editions.  Perhaps 
Stevenson  found  that  it  lacked  the  note  of 
humor  —  to  the  adult  mind,  of  course  —  pre- 
sent in  the  first. 

The  two  remaining  scraps  of  verse  found 
on  facsimile  No.  7  need  not  long  detain  us. 
The  quatrain, — 

Papa  is  away  to  the  office  I  see 
And  Johnnie  has  gone  to  the  school ; 

Come,  Peter,  and  sit  in  the  corner  with  me, 
And  pretend  to  be  hunting  a  bull 

was  used  as  No.  6  of  Penny  Whistles  and  was 
called  "The  Bull  Hunt," — the  version  given 
in  the  Widener  Catalogue  differing  slightly 
from  our  draft.  Then  Stevenson  discarded 
the  verses  when  he  issued  A  Child's  Garden. 

[39] 


As  we  shall  see  later,  he  seems  to  have  liked 
the  names  of  John  and  Peter. 

Whether  he  was  wise  in  not  finishing  the 
other  set  of  verses  on  the  upper  left-hand 
side  or,  at  least,  in  not  using  the  first  four 
lines  in  his  printed  collections,  is  a  question 
which  may  divide  readers.    The  lines  run : — 

You  must  not  suppose  that  a  child  is  a  fool, 
For1 1  have  been  thinking  for  long 

That  a  man  is  no  better  for  going  to  school 
And  the  old  people  all  in  the  wrong. 

Facsimiles  8  and  9  go  naturally  together. 
The  draft  of  "The  Land  of  Nod,"  when  com- 
pared with  the  versions  of  Penny  Whistles 
(No.  19)  and  of  A  CUWs  Garden  (No.  17), 
is  chiefly  interesting  as  exhibiting  Steven- 
son's skill  in  changing  what  seems  to  have 
been  the  original  order  of  his  stanzas.  The 
draft,  omitting  the  changes,  runs : — 

From  breakfast  on  through  all  the  day 
At  home  among  my  friends  I  stay, 
But  every  night  I  go  abroad 
Afar  into  the  land  of  nod. 

i  It  looks  as  if  Stevenson  first  wrote  ' '  Hence. ' ' 

[40] 


o  have  liked 

,  i 

Whether  h  fishing  the 

et  of  left-hand 

(i  not  first  four 

lines  in  his  printed  coll  is  a  question 

divide  readers.  The  lines  run: — 

You  must  not  suppose  that  a  child  is  a  fool, 
■  been  thinking  for  long 

iter  for  going  to  school 
old  people  all  in  the  wrong. 

iles  8  and  9  go  naturally  together. 

of  "The  Land  of  Nod,'-  when  com- 

1  with  the  versions  of  1         /  Whistles 

)  and  of  A  Child's  Garden  (No.  17), 

iy  in*  ng  as  exhibiting  Steven- 

dll  in  changing  what  seems  to  have 

riginal  order  of  his  stanzas.    The 

1  ting  the  changes,  runs : — 

■ 

From  breaJ  on  through  all  the  day 

home  among  my  friends  I  stay, 
very  night  I  go  abroad 
land  of  nod. 

>n  first  wrote  ' 

[40] 


Ify^^^M. 


i*~** 


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<v~^-Si_. 


D 


••-•*    c-f'-v.v    -•-'    ,  x    n/v-a  -o^  ,^-  <v~*~c  o^*^  ^  ^..  >  a-t-! 


X 


iu-c^/;.'.^    w  .''j. -~-.il       w->     •  --   w~A  ^     lvw  UfiUt  W^A. 


7  \  ' 


i    3  "IT  ***"  ' 

■4p.  -a 


I  { 


Curious  things  are  there  for  me, 
Both  things  to  eat  and  things  to  see ; 
And  many  frighting  sights  abroad 
Till  morning  in  the  land  of  nod. 

Try  as  I  like  to  find  the  way, 
I  never  can  get  there  by  day, 
Nor  can  remember  plain  and  clear 
The  curious  music  that  I  hear. 

And  all  alone  I  have  to  go* — 

It's  very  dangerous,  don't  you  know  — 

All  alone  beside  the  streams 

And  up  the  mountain  sides  of  dreams. 

The  cancelled  lines  at  the  left,  which  again 
bring  in  John  and  Peter,  together  with  the 
apparently  companion  couplet,  are  not 
greatly  missed  from  Penny  Whistles  and  A 
Cli ild's  Garden.  The  draft  of  the  poem ' ' My 
Shadow"  (No.  20  of  Penny  Whistles  and 
No.  18  of  A  Child's  Garden),  like  the  draft 
of  "The  Land  of  Nod,"  is  interesting  in  the 

*  It  is  not  clear  whether  the  word  ' '  And, ' '  which  precedes 
"All"  in  this  line,  belongs  to  this  poem  or  to  the  one  struck 
out  at  the  side;  but  in  all  probability  it  should  go  in  here,  as 
it  completes  the  line.  In  the  same  line  the  fifth  word  might  be 
"love"  instead  of  "have,"  but  "have"  seems  to  continue  the 
mood  of  the  preceding  couplets,  and  it  harmonizes  with  the  line 
that  follows. 

[41] 


light  it  throws  on  Stevenson's  art  of  building 
up  his  poems, —  not  merely  in  its  arrange- 
ment of  stanzas,  but  also  in  its  shifting  of 
couplets. 

The  couplets  that  follow  "My  Shadow"  on 
facsimile  No.  9  are  probably  not  to  be  taken 
as  forming  a  single  poem,  since  the  first  is 
separated  from  the  others  by  a  dash1  and  is 
to  be  found  by  itself,  under  the  title,  "The 
Hunt  Interrupted,"  as  No.  21  of  Penny 
Whistles,  where  "I'm  going  to"  takes  the 
place  of  "  I  mean  to : " — 

Hi!  nursie,  you  come  back  again,  behind  the 

deodar, 
For  that's  the  place  I  mean  to  hunt,  where  all 

the  tigers  are. 

While  probably  well  advised  in  printing 
this  as  four  lines  in  Penny  Whistles,  Steven- 
son seems  to  have  been  better  advised  in 
dropping  it  entirely  from  A  Child's  Garden. 

Whether  he  would  not  have  done  well  to 
retain  and  perfect  the  remaining  couplets  is 

i  This  may,  however,  have  been  an  afterthought,  and  it  will 
be  observed  that  the  facsimile  seems  to  show  a  semicolon  at  the 
end  of  the  second  line.  See  G.  Balfour's  biography,  1901,  I,  page 
41,  note  1,  for  an  interesting  touch  connected  with  this  couplet. 

[42] 


a  question  we  need  spend  no  time  over ;  but 
they  are  surely  good  enough  to  be  printed 
here,  although  not  new  in  their  entirety,  the 
second  couplet  having  served  as  a  basis  for 
the  second  couplet  of  "A  Good  Boy"1  (No. 
25  of  Penny  Whistles  and  No.  20  of  A  Child's 
Garden). — 

The  children  all  go  homeward  —  you  can  hear 

the  mothers  cry, 
The  little  birds  are  silent  now  upon  the  treetops 

high.2 
At  last  the  golden  sun  begins  to  go  behind  the 

wood, — 
Another  day  is  over,  and  I  know  that  I've  been 

good. 

I  love  the  even  shadow  as  I  loved  the  noonday 
sun, 

i  Of  this  poem,  Stevenson  wrote,  in  November  1883,  to  Mrs. 
Milne,  the  playmate  of  his  childhood :  ' '  You  were  a  capital  fel- 
low to  play:  how  few  there  were  who  could!  .  .  .  See  'A 
Good  Boy'  in  the  Penny  Whistles,  much  of  the  sentiment  of 
which  is  taken  direct  from  one  evening  at  the  Bridge  of  Allan, 
when  we  had  a  great  play  with  the  little  Glasgow  girl." 

2  This  couplet,  it  will  be  observed,  has  been  apparently  can- 
celled; and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  poem  might  begin  with  the 
next  line;  but,  as  it  seems  to  divide  itself  into  stanzas  of  four 
lines  each,  it  is  doubtless  best  to  pay  no  attention  to  the  can- 
cellation. 

[43] 


And  cousin  Tom  has  painted  me  the  picture  of  a 

gun. 
I  pounded  little  pebbles  on  the  beach  below  the 

trees, 
And  climbed  the  sandy  mountain  in  the  nettles 

to  my  knees. 

So  now  along  the  shadows  I  'm  returning  home 
to  bed, 

And  then  when  all  is  over,  and  my  evening  pray- 
er is  said, 

I'll  lie  among  the  pleasant  sheets  and  close  my 
happy  eyes, 

And  wait  until  time  comes  to  call  me  by  surprise. 

Returning  now  for  a  moment  to  "My  Sha- 
dow" (facsimiles  8  and  9),  we  find  that  that 
poem  has  left  its  trace  in  a  line  or  two  on 
facsimile  No.  18.  This,  which  must  be  treat- 
ed along  wdth  Numbers  16  and  17,  since  all 
deal  with  Stevenson's  famous  respirator, 
contains  also  other  fragments  that  seem  to 
belong  to  A  Child's  Garden,  at  least,  to  have 
been  originally  intended  for  it. — 

This  is  the  mill  that  makes  the  bread, 

might,  one  fancies,  have  been  worked  into  a 

[44] 


Tom  he  picture  of  a 

gun. 
I  pounded  little  j  ach  below  the 

trc 
Ar  abed  the  tiie  nettles 

to  my  h. 

turning  home 
to  bed, 

:i  all  is  over,  and  my  evening  pray- 
er is  said, 

mong  the  pleasant  sheets  and  close  my 
happy  eyes, 
it  until  time  comes  to  call  me  by  surprise. 

rning  now  for  a  moment  to  "My  Sha- 

do1  icsimiles      •   d  9),  we  find  that  that 

poem  has  left  its  trace  in  a  line  or  two  on 

e  No.  18.    This,  which  must  be  treat- 

vith  Numbers  16  and  17,  since  all 

Stevenson's    famous  respirator, 

ther  fragments  that  seem  to 

be]  Id's  Garden,  at  least,  to  have 

intended  for  it. — 

lie  mill  that  makes  the  bread, 

ancles,  have  been  worked  into  a 
[44] 


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i 


satisfactory  poem,  and  this  is  also  true  of  the 
unused  lines  — 

Across  the  road  and  past  the  dene 
I  know  a  meadow  white  and  green. 
So  high  the  grass  and  daisies  grow, 
It  must  be  where  the  fairies  go. 

The  reader  will  find  other  fragments  of 
verse  on  the  crowded  sheet,  and  he  may  be 
pleased  with  what  almost  constitutes  an  en- 
tire new  poem : — 

I  rose  before  they  told  me  to, 

When  all  the  lawn  was  thick  with  dew  ;* 

It  was  the  very  ^eep  of  day, 

And  night  had  hardly  gone  away. 

The  dew  stood  in  the  butter  cup, — 

Only  the  birds  and  me  were  up, — 

All  the  trees  stood  very  still, 

Both  round  the  house  and  on  the  hill, 

And  all  the  shadows  lay  so  long  — 

Leaving  now  —  not  without  regret — A 
Child's  Garden  of  Verses,  we  come  to  the 
miscellaneous  sheets  of  facsimiles.  First  in 
interest  among  these  are  Numbers  10  and  II, 

i  Stevenson  appears  to  spell  "due,"  but  lie  writes  the  word 
correctly  later. 

r  45 1 


containing  an  early  draft  of  "In  Memoriam 
F.  A.  S."  (No.  27  of  the  first  book  of  Under- 
tvoods),  Stevenson's  famous  and  deeply  mov- 
ing elegy  on  the  young  son  of  Mrs.  Sitwell, 
later  Lady  Colvin.  The  verses  were  written 
at  Davos  in  1881,  and  they  are  here  reprint- 
ed, as  nearly  as  possible  as  they  stand  in  the 
facsimile,  together  with  the  final  version  of 
the  poem  as  it  appears  in  Underwoods.  The 
reader  will  note  that  Stevenson  seems  to  have 
begun  to  write  in  a  somewhat  Tennysonian 
blank  verse,  which  was  happily  abandoned 
for  rhyme. — 

If  that  which  should  be  is  not ;  that  which  is, 
Oh  God,  so  greatly  should  not  be ;  and  all 
From  Dawn  to  sunset  and  from  birth  to  grave 
Be,  or  appear,  Oh  God,  evil  alone  •, 
If  that  be  so,  then  silence  were  the  best ; 
Yet,  0  broken  heart,  remember,  0  Remember, 
All  has  not  been  evil  from  the  start. 
April  came  to  bloom  at  least,  and  no  December 
Laid  its  chilling  frosts  upon  the  head  or  heart. 
Life  indeed  of  months,  and  not  of  years ;  a  being 
Trod  the  flowery  April  blithely1  for  a  while, 
Took  his  fill  of  music,  joy  of  thought  and  seeing, 

i  The  MS.  seems  to  spell  blythely. 

[46] 


Came  and  stayed  and  went,  nor  ever  ceased  to 

smile. 
Came  and  went,  a  dream;  and  now  when  all  is 

finished, 
You  alone  have  trod  the  melancholy  stream. 
Yours  the  pang,  but  his,  0  his  the  undiminished, 
Undecaying  glory,  undisturbed  dream. 
All  that  life  contains  of  torture,  toil  and  treason, 
Shame,  dishonour,  death,  to  him  were  but  a 

name. 
Here  for  all  his  youth  he  dwelt  — 
Ere  the  day  of  sorrow,  departed,  as  he  came  — 
Here  a  youth  he  stayed  through  all  the  singing 

season. 

The  following  is  the  final  version  as  it  ap- 
peared in  Underwoods'. — 

IN  MEMORIAL!  F.  A.  S. 

Yet,  0  stricken  heart,  remember,  0  remember 
How  of  human  days  he  lived  the  better  part. 

April  came  to  bloom  and  never  dim  December 
Breathed  its  killing  chills  upon  the  head  or 
heart. 

Doomed  to  know  not  winter,  only  spring,  a  being 

Trod  the  flowery  April  blithely  for  a  while, 
Took  his  fill  of  music,  joy  of  thought  and  seeing, 

[47] 


Came  and  stayed  and  went,  nor  ever  ceased 
to  smile. 

Came  and  stayed  and  went,  and  now  when  all  is 
finished, 
You    alone    have    crossed    the    melancholy 
stream ; 
Yours  the  pang,  but  his,  0  his,  the  undiminished, 
Undecaying  gladness,  undeparted  dream. 

All  that  life  contains  of  torture,  toil,  and  treason, 
Shame,  dishonour,  death,  to  him  were  but  a 
name. 
Here,  a  boy,  he  dwelt  through  all  the  singing- 
season 
And  ere  the  day  of  sorrow,  departed  as  he 
came.1 

Facsimile  No.  12  contains  a  portion  of 
"Our  Lady  of  the  Snows"  (No.  23  of  Under- 
woods). In  the  first  line  Stevenson  seems 
originally  to  have  written  "man"  instead  of 
"men,"  the  present  reading.  In  the  second 
line  he  substituted,  in  the  printed  version, 
the  weak 

With  agonizing  folds  of  flesh 

1  For  variations  see  the  Widener  Catalogue,  page  44. 

[48] 


< 


over  ceased 


:ion  all  is 
!  ncholy 

tninished, 

,11. 

;i,  and  treason, 
re  but  a 

•11  the  singing 


Unde< 

na? 

leparted  as  he 

.   contains  a  portion  of 
Snows"  (No.  23  of  Under- 

tbe  (ine  Stevenson  seems 

en  "man"  instead  of 

reading.    In  the  second 

in  the  printed  version, 

folds  of  flesh 


ncr  Catalogue,  page  44. 


|8] 


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Facsimile  No.  12 


for  the  strong  line  in  the  present  manu- 
script — 

In  that  Nessus  robe  of  flesh, 

desiring  perhaps  to  avoid  a  commonplace  of 
mythology ;  or  fearing  that  readers  untrain- 
ed in  the  classics  might  not  recognize  the 
Centaur  whose  blood  proved  mortal  to  his 
slayer,  Hercules.    Lines  5-8  — 

Whom  the  bold  heart  beating  high, 
Yet  prompts  to  suffer  and  enjoy, 
And  like  the  soldier's  drum,  its  sound 
Recruits  and  calls  the  passions  round 

were  omitted  from  the  printed  version,  pos- 
sibly not  only  to  get  rid  of  the  antiquated 
rhyme,  but  also  to  avoid  reminding  readers 
of  a  famous  ode  bv  Collins.  Lines  11-14  were 
likewise  omitted,  with  the  loss,  it  would  seem, 
of  two  rather  good,  although  not  highly  indi- 
vidual, verses : — 

To  hold  the  peace,  to  fold  the  hands, 
And  in  unnoticeable  sands 
Drain  out  the  useless  lees  of  time, 
Far  from  Nature,  far  from  crime. 

The  substitution  in  line  18  of  "About  my 

[49] 


human"  for  *  About  my  father's"  both  avoids 
a  suggestion  of  the  Scriptures,  which  might 
offend  some  readers,  and  imparts  to  the  pass- 
age a  true  Stevenson ian  flavor. 

Facsimile  No.  13  affords  little  that  requires 
comment.  Stevenson  apparently  liked  to 
make  lists, —  here  one  of  proverbs  which  he 
may  have  intended  to  work  into  rhymes.  The 
sheet  also  yields  a  new  stanza  the  substance 
of  which  possesses  value,  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  form : — 

Plough  land  and  lea,  stubble  and  trees, 
Nature's  aid  is  silent  for  ever; 

So  one  standing  hears  and  sees 
Men  deducing  and  talking  clever, 

But  cares  no  whit  for  them  or  these. 

Facsimile  No.  14  is  important  if,  as  seems 
plausible  from  the  character  of  the  initial 
verses  and  from  the  proverb,  "Give  a  dog  a 
bad  name  and  hang  him,"  strung  along  down 
the  right-hand  margin,  we  may  assume  that 
the  following  uncouth  poem  was  suggested 
by  Stevenson's  own  stormy  and  somewhat 
unpromising  youth  in  Edinburgh.    So  far  as 

[50] 


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we  know,  it  has  never  been  printed  else- 
where.— 

For  laughing  1  very  much  vote, 

Yet  was  never  opposed  to  the  church ; 

So  why  do  grave  people  agree 
To  leave  me  alone  in  the  lurch? 

From  my  birth1  a  desirable  youth, 

In  amenity  ever  I  shone, 
Yet  no  merry  andrew  was  I 

To  be  carelessly  flouted  upon. 

High,  angry  and  sour  are  the  words 
With  which  I  have  ever  been  curst, 

And  yet  though  impenitent  now, 
I  was  easily  led  at  the  first. 

The  remainder  of  facsimile  No.  14  is  occu- 
pied by  what  seems  to  be  a  short  independent 
poem,  over  which  Stevenson  worked  with 
more  assidnitv  than  success.  The  somewhat 
bizarre  subject  might  have  yielded  perhaps — 
when  he  was  in  happier  vein  —  verses  more 
worthy  of  his  genius ;  but  even  so,  it  may  be 
desirable  to  transcribe  them : — 

i  Stevenson  seems  to  have  written  "bib,"  but  lie  probably 
intended  to  write  "birth." 

[5-] 


Look  out,  my  friend,  it  \s  on  the  card, 

A  babe  forever  squalling  hard 

And  shorn  of  any1  outer  aid, 

A  person  mantled  in  a  plaid 

And  bound  to  be  that  baby's  page 

In  nightly  pale  apprenticeage. 

Facsimile  No.  15  represents  the  conclusion 
of  a  poem  which  is  so  confused  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  its  lines  that  perhaps  each 
reader  will  claim  the  privilege  of  construct- 
ing his  own  text.  Its  date  is  probably  about 
1881,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  following  bit 
of  prose,  which  does  not  appear  in  the  fac- 
simile, but  is  transcribed  from  another  near- 
by page  of  the  original  note  book. — 

"It  is  impossible  to  keep  lines  of  rail,  for 
any  great  distance,  close  along  the  side  of  a 
range  of  granite  mountains.  It  is  the  more 
to  be  supposed  that  this  'puma  of  the  moun- 
tains,' as  it  has  been  poetically  called,  acts 
directly  on  the  locomotive  engines,  since  the 
discovery  by  Mr.  Browning  that  they  hear 

i  The  original  seems  to  contain  a  superfluous  stroke  of  the 
pen,  and  might  be  deciphered  as  "every"  but  for  the  very 
plain  initial  letter  "a." 

[52] 


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each  other's  screams  across  the  night  and 
tremble  like  wild  animals.  Read  in  a  dream 
Thursday,  May  12th/81." 

Immediately  below  this  passage  follow, 
on  page  40  of  the  note  book,  the  lines  begin- 
ning— 

The  still  air  sharpened  to  a  blast, 

as  given  below. 

Stevenson  thought  enough  of  his  engine- 
verses,  if  wre  may  so  denominate  them,  to  en- 
ter them  in  a  sort  of  index  he  kept  on  the 
verso  of  the  front  cover  of  his  note  book  —  or 
else,  as  seems  unlikely,  a  later  hand  has  done 
this.  One  naturally  thinks  of  "Kubla  Khan," 
and  may,  without  suggesting  any  real  rivalry 
with  that,  urge  that  Stevenson's  couplets, 
even  if  their  arrangement  be  difficult  to  de- 
termine, constitute  one  of  the  most  truly 
imaginative  poems  he  ever  wrote : — 

Earth's  oldest  veins  our  dam  and  sire, 
Iron  chimeras  fed  with  fire 

or 

And  in  the  darkness,  far  and  nigh, 
We  heard  our  iron  compeers  cry 

[53] 


may  be  cited  in  support  of  this  view.  But  the 
poem,  chaotic  and  unpolished  though  it  be,  is 
better  than  any  comments  upon  it.  The  first 
five  lines  are  copied  from  the  page  in  the  note 
book  immediately  preceding  the  one  here  re- 
producd  in  facsimile : — 

The  still  air  sharpened  to  a  blast, 
The  canyon  thundered  as  we  past; 
With  roar  and  rattle,  scream  and  clang 
The  many-antred  mountain  rang; 
And  plunging  from  the  light  of  day, 

The  many-antred  mountain  rang, 
And  shook  through  all  her  pillars,  but  that 
stead 

In  our  black  stable  near  the  sea 

Five  and  twenty  stalls  you  see, 

Five  and  twenty  strong  are  we. 

The  lanterns  tossed  the  shadows  round, 

Live  coals  were  scattered  on  the  ground ; 

The  swarthy  ostlers  echoing  stept, 

But  silent  all  night  long  we  slept. 

Inactive  we,  steeds  of  the  day, 

And  shakers  of  the  mountains  lay, 

Earth's  oldest1  veins  our  dam  and  sire, 

J  Query,  "eldest?" 

[54] 


Iron  chimaeras  fed  with  fire. 

[We  slept;  and  while  we  slept,  we  heard1] 

And  trembled  as  we  slept  to  hear, 

All  we,2  the  unweary  lay  at  rest, 

The  sleepless  lamp  burned  on  our  crest, 

And  in  the  darkness,  far  and  nigh, 

We  heard  our  iron  compeers  cry. 

Morn  came  at  last ;  the  morning  star 
Burned  in  the  amber  heavens  afar ; 
Dew  and  the  early  day  abroad. 

Facsimiles  16,  17,  and  18a  give  us  couplets 
intended  to  make  a  poem  or  poems  "on  wear- 
ing an  inhaler  with  a  snout."  Some  of  these 
lines  were  used  in  a  letter  written  to  Henley 
from  Braemar  in  1881,  and  we  are  informed 
by  Sir  Sidney  Covlin  that  they  were  occa- 
sioned bv  the  fact  that  "Stevenson's  uncle, 
Dr.  George  Balfour,  had  recommended  him 
to  wear  a  specially  contrived  and  hideous  res- 
pirator for  the  inhalation  of  pine-oil."  Some 

i  There  is  some  doubt  whether  Stevenson  meant  to  keep  this 
line  or  not.  In  the  latter  case,  a  comma  should  probably  re- 
place the  period  after  ' '  fire. ' ' 

2  This  may  possibly  be  ' '  eve. ' ' 

s  Facsimiles  17  and  18  also  contain  material  already  treated 
under  the  discussion  of  the  drafts  of  poems  written  for  A 
Child's  Garden. 

r  5s  i 


persons  may  think  the  lines  scarcely  more 
comely  than  the  instrument  they  celebrate, 
but,  since  the  letter  to  Henley  is  printed  in 
Stevenson's  correspondence,  it  is  probably 
well  to  give  such  readers  as  care  for  R.  L.  S. 
in  his  jocular  moods  a  chance  to  peruse  the 
original  couplets  from  which  a  portion  of 
that  letter  was  derived,  even  if  the  language 
is  sometimes  more  expressive  than  elegant. — 

Sir,  while  we  tread  the  paths  of  day 
Still  downward  slopes  the  narrowing  way, 
And  still,  alas !  on  one  and  all, 
Undue  humiliations  fall.1 

The  speaking  changes  of  my  face, 
And  that  well-known,  insidious  grace, 
Cock  of  the  eye,  or  strut  of  walk, 
Or  sweet,  sequacious  flow  of  talk, 
And  all  that  erst  so  well  became 
My  youth,  my  talents  and  my  name : 
Must  these,  ere  yet  my  prime  be  sped, 
These,  one  and  all,  be  buried 
Beneath,  0  my  revered  Creator, 

i  Here  Stevenson  may  have  intended  to  interpolate  the  fol- 
lowing lines,  which  appear  in  the  right-hand  margin:  — 
If  oil  of  pines  I  now  must  breathe 
Here  all  my  arts  let  me  bequeath, 
My  arts,  my  hopes, 

[56] 


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II 


An  air-nasal  respirator? 

Must  I,  alas !  disfigured  go 

Among  my  fellows,  to  and  fro  — 

Among  the  ladies,  in  and  out, 

Blessed  with  an  artificial  snout  ? 

Ariel  to  Bottom  altered,  Don 

Giovanni,  with  a  false  face  on, 

Must  I  —  ye  graces,  pause  and  hear!  — 

Angel  de-angelised  appear? 

With  my  pig's  snout  upon  my  face 

I  now  inhale,  with  fishy  grace, 

My  gills  outflapping  right  and  left  — 

01.  pin.  sylvest.1    I  am  bereft 

Of  a  great  deal  of  charm  by  this  — 

Not  quite  the  bull's  eye  for  a  kiss  — 

But  like  a  gnome  of  olden  time 

Or  boguey  in  a  pantomine. 

For  ladies '  love  I  once  was  fit, 

But  now  am  rather  out  of  it. 

Where  'er  I  go  revolted  curs 

Snap  round  my  military  spurs ; 

The  children  all  retire  in  fits 

And  scream  their  bellowses  to  bits. 

Little  I  care  —  the  worst 's  been  done ; 

Now  let  the  cold,  impoverished  sun 

Drop  frozen  from  its  orbit  —  let 

i  Oil  of  pin  us  sylvestris,  said  to  be  the  only  British  species 
of  pine. 

[57] 


Fuiy  and  fire,  cold,  wind  and  wet, 

And  cataclysmal,  mad  reverses 

Rage  through  the  federate  universes; 

Let  Lanisin  [f]  triumph,  cakes  and  ale, 

Whiskey  and  hock  and  claret  fail, 

Tobacco,  Love  and  Letters  perish, 

And  all  that  cultured  man  should  cherish  — 

You  it  may  touch  —  not  me :  I  dwell 

Too  deep,  already,  deep  in  hell ; 

Too  deep  in  grief  already  lie, 

And  nothing  can  befall  —  0  damn !  — 

To  make  me  uglier  than  I  am. 

Time  was  when  physical  disorders 
Bloomed  bright  in  the  poetic  borders ; 
Heroes  and  heroines  together 
Slunk  southward  from  the  winter  weather ; 
From  Astrakhan  to  the  Atlantic 
No  malady  was  more  romantic. 
Time  is :  the  courtly  auscultator 
Breathes  "air-nasal  respirator," 
Breathes  but  the  word ;  and  at  the  sound 
Fate  from  your  fancies  cuts  the  ground ; 
The  fabled  charm  dissolves  like  winking, 
And  leaves  you  both  deformed  and  stinking. 

Conceive  —  you've  only  three,  I  hope, 
A  section  of  black  telescope ; 

[  58  ] 


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In  shape  it  apes,  though  rather  big, 
The  snout  of  the  domestic  pig ; 
On  either  hand — I  tell  no  crammers — 
Valves  like  minute  piano-hammers 
Go  up  and  down  with  every  breath 
To  make  a  sexton  laugh  to  death.1 

Facsimile  No.  19  may  be  passed  over  with 
but  little  comment.  It,  however,  contains  a 
few  apparently  unpublished  lines  that  are 
worthy  of  scrutiny,  notably  the  following : — 

Royal  ladies  are  not  all 
Fit  to  kiss  a  country  thrall ; 
Famous  bards  (no  time  ago) 
Sing  old  songs,  unhearkened  to : 
With  attention  use  your  eyes, 
Here 2  a  proverb  buried  lies, 
With  old  wisdom  shining  lit, 
Terse  as  is  the  soul  of  wit. 

The  following  lines,  more  typically  Steven- 
sonian  in  spirit  than  in  poetic  beauty,  appear 

i  Other  lines  that  are  associated  with  this  effusion  may  be 
obtained  by  any  reader  who  will  closely  examine  facsimile 
No.  18. 

2  Stevenson  carelessly  wrote  ' '  Hear, ' '  although  it  is  barely 
possible  to  construct  a  meaning  with  "Hear"  by  mentally  in- 
terpolating ' '  which ' >  after  ' '  proverb. ' ' 

[  59  1 


at  the  bottom  of  the  sheet.    They  were  prob- 
ably written  while  he  was  living  at  Davos. 

Our  high,  alfresco,  Alpine  kind  of  life, 

Tho'  dull,  I  say,  is  free  at  least  from  strife. 

Here  you  can  wear,  unchid,  your  oldest  clo ' — 

A  fair  set-off  to  what  you  undergo. 

You  sit  or  walk,  do  that  or  this, 

Each  as  though  all  the  place  were  his ; 

Or  bet  terrific  sums  perhaps, 

On    ...     .      [?]x  or  other  billiard  chaps. 

Facsimiles  20  and  21  are  given  as  evidence 
of  the  care  with  which  Stevenson  labored  on 
the  verses  "In  Scots"  that  make  up  the 
second  book  of  Underwoods.  Number  20  rep- 
resents a  portion  of  ' '  The  Maker  to  Posteri- 
ty," with  new  material;  Number  21  repre- 
sents in  a  similar  way  "A  Lowden  Sabbath 
Morn."2 

Facsimile  No.  22  contains  an  amusing  set 
of  seemingly  unpublished  couplets  addressed 
to  Henley,  in  which  Stevenson  says  that, 
since  — 

i  Possibly  the  reader  may  find  some  amusement  in  decipher- 
ing this  word.  It  is  perhaps  the  name  of  some  friend  who 
was  a  billiard  player. 

2  See  the  Bibliophile  edition  of  1916,  II,  152-153. 

[60] 


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ill.K  No.  21 


We  dwell  in  these  melodious  days 
When  every  author  trolls  his  lays, 
And  all,  except  myself  and  you, 
Must  up  and  print  the  nonsense,  too  — 

Why  then,  if  this  be  so  indeed, 
If  adamantine  walls  recede, 
And  old  Apollo 's  gardens  gape 
For    .  .  .  .x  and  the  grinder's  ape, 

I  too  may  enter  in,  perchance, 
Where  paralytic  graces  dance, 
And,  cheering  on  each  tottering  set, 
Blow  my  falsetto  flageolet. 

Some  may  perhaps  prefer  to  these  last 
lines  those  struck  out,  which  run  — 

I  too  may  enter  in,  perchance, 
And  where  the  aged  graces  dance, 
Behind  the  tenor  and  soprano 
Grind  my  mechanical  piano. 

Facsimiles  23  to  26  ask  for  but  little  by 
way  of  comment.  The  first  and  second  of  the 
four  represent  innocuous  diversions.  The 
four  lines  at  the  top  of  No.  23  commemorate 
the  author's  preference  for  someone  named 

1  We  are  unable  to  transcribe  this  word.     It  may  possibly 
be  the  name  of  some  minor  poet. 

[6i] 


"Jane,"  and  Number  25  may  be  deciphered 
by  those  Stevensonians  who  are  interested  in 
the  mock  elegiac  sonnets  which  their  favorite 
author  composed  in  memory  of  the  Edin- 
burgh publican,  Peter  Brash  —  a  series 
which  may  be  found  in  the  Widener  Cata- 
logue. Number  26,  taken  from  Stevenson's 
' 'Academic  Exercise  Book,"  doubtless  repre- 
sents his  method  of  adorning  a  note  book 
during  a  tiresome  lecture.  He  thought  enough 
of  one  professor  to  be  willing  to  devote  a 
whole  volume  to  his  memory ;  but  as  the  lines 
of  1874  (printed  in  another  Bibliophile  vol- 
ume), "Here  he  comes,  big  with  Statistics," 
clearly  show,  he  was  by  no  means  enamoured 
of  all  the  gentlemen  who  lectured  to  him  dur- 
ing his  student  years.  Precisely  whom  he 
caricatured  in  the  drawing  here  reproduced 
has  not  apparently  been  determined,  but  the 
notes  on  which  the  speaker  stands  in  the  fac- 
simile seem  to  justify  the  young  artist's 
comical  portrait.  The  last  two,  Numbers  27 
and  28  (which,  with  the  one  in  the  front  of 
the  book,  complete  the  twenty-nine)  seem  to 
require  no  editorial  comment. 

To  begin  with  the  Stevenson  of  A  Child's 

[62] 


HMtaJ-X   - 


1 


Garden  and  to  end  with  the  Stevenson  of  the 
bored  student  period  may  seem  at  first  blush 
a  questionable  procedure.  Yet,  after  all,  a 
' '  Workshop ' '  volume  will  possess  little  value 
if  it  does  not  serve  to  bring  into  greater  relief 
the  sheerly  human  qualities  of  the  writer  to 
whom  it  is  devoted.  It  is  chiefly  Stevenson's 
inexhaustible  humanity,  rather  than  the  per- 
fection of  his  literary  art  or  the  power  and 
charm  of  his  genius,  that  endears  him  to  most 
of  his  readers.  That  humanity  finds  higher 
expression  in  the  period  of  the  famous  ro- 
mances and  in  the  Samoan  years,  but  it  is 
abundantly  manifest  also  in  his  early  verses 
and  in  what  we  know  about  his  college  days. 
There  is  nothing  more  human  than  exaspera- 
tion with  a  bore,  and,  although  Stevenson 
later  acquired  much  of  the  patience  of  the 
philosophic  mind  and  of  the  charitable  heart, 
we  need  not  apologize  for  taking  leave  of  him 
as  an  irreverent  caricaturist  of  some  Edin- 
burgh pundit. 


[63] 


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